Hair drier



Sept. 26, 1950 -F. M. MURPHY HAIR DRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 3, 1947 INVENTOR: Haeeuce M. MUQPHY ,4 r TORNEVS:

Sept. 26, 1950 F. M. MURPHY HAIR DRIER Filed Nov. 3, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 If a! INVENTOR. Haeavas M. Muemr .Illll llll'il Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE My invention relates to hair driers and more specifically to an attachment which can be used in connection with standard home vacuum cleaners for utilizing the air from the discharge of a of time under warm air blowers in order to perl mit their hair to become sufiiciently dry. Such a procedure usually results in excessive fatigue and frequently causes headaches because of the strain of sitting in one position for extended periods of time.

A great deal of time and effort has been spent I in attempting to develop a satisfactory hair drier.

Most of this effort has been directed along the line of metal hoods adapted to blow warm air down over the head of the person using it, thereby resulting in a very tiresome procedure because of the fact that the warm air blows down around. the face of the user and also because of the fact that the hair driers are usually heavy and cumbersome and cannot readily be moved around.

Some attempts have been made at providing double shell driers to permit removal of hot air through the outer shell so that it will not blow down around the face of the user. ihis is some improvement but still requires confining the user I to one position for varying lengths of time, depending upon the amount and thickness of hair.

An object of my invention is to provide a hair drier which can be readily attached to a standard vacuum cleaner and used in the home and one which will not require the user to sit in one fixed position for extended periods of time.

Previous attempts have been made to furnish hair driers for home use. usually taken the form of portable blowers having electric heating elements therein which results in a blast of warm air over the head of the user. These of course must be held and operated by hand. Such devices are cumbersome and tiring.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide a simple device which can be worn on the head of the user and which can be attached to a source of warmed air'under pressure such as the discharge end of a standard vacuum cleaner which will result in an efficient drying of the hair which will not tire the operator.

It is also a further object of my invention to provide an attachment for astandard electric vacuum cleaner which is relatively inexpensive,

1 Claim. 7 (Cl. 34- 82) IJI Such attempts have 2 easy to produce, which hair and which will not result in fatigue of the user.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a hair drying attachment for vacuum cleaner which can be used as an attractive article of wearing apparel should the user desire to move around before the hair is completely dried, as in the case of answering telephones or door-bells.

The illustration contained in the drawings and specifications relative thereto illustrate one form in which my invention may be embodied and is by way of illustration only and is not a limitation.

Other and further objects and advantages and other further equivalent structures will become readily apparent from the drawings and specification relative thereto.

In the drawings: 1

Fig. 1 represents an embodiment of my invention illustrating its use in connection with a standard vacuum cleaner.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the hair drying attachment illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the hair drying attachment shown in Fig. 1 illustrating its use.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the hair drying attachment showing its use as an article of wearing apparel.

As illustrated in Fig. 1, my invention comprises essentially a cap or hood l0 having a conduit ll communicating with the interior of the cap iii and connected to a source of warmed air under pressure such as the discharge pipe l2 of a standard vacuum cleaner l3.- 1

' An' example of one form which my inventio may assume is shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 and comprises what is commonly known as a tam-oshanter type cap having a crown 2t and a head engaging band 2|. The crown 29 is formed substantially circular and has the peripheral edges thereof folded back under as at 22 thereby defining an inwardly extending annular flange 23. The head band 2i is formed in the shape of an annulus having its outer periphery reverse folded as at 2 which is complementary with the flange 23' and is sewed to the flange 23 as at 25. The inner edge of the annulus 2! is reverse folded as at it and stitched to form a hem 3! which contains a resilient member 32 preferably of elastic. It will be understood that the head band 2| is full enough so that when it is lying will eificiently dry the in a fiat position as shown in Fig. 2 it will contain a plurality of folds 33.

The purpose of such construction will be readily apparent in that it allows adjustment of the size of the resilient member 32 to engage substantially any head size in substantially air-tight engagement as shown at 34 on Fig. 4, and also to permit the cap or hood 10 to assume an extended position such as is shown in Fig. 4.

The head band 21 is formed with an aperture 40 adjacent the resilient member 32. The aperture 40 is adapted to receive the conduit II by means of stitching or sewing at 4|. Conduit II as illustrated herein comprises a tapered tube of flexible material having a resilient member 43 sewed into the free end thereof. The resilient member 43 is adapted to fit over a conduit supplying warmed air under pressure such as the discharge conduit i2 of a vacuum cleaner [3 in substantially air-tight relationship. The conduit ll may optionally contain a filter 44 in one end thereof. The filter 44 is illustrated as conical in shape. Such shape is optional but not necessary. It is preferred to form a filter as a conical shape so that it can be turned wrong side out and extended outwardly from the conduit II, as shown in phantom at 44, for the purpose of washing and cleaning.

The material of which the cap is formed may be important in the following respects. If the weave is too loose, insufficient pressure will be built up inside of the cap to make it stand out from the head over the entire area, thereby preventing proper circulation of air through some portions of the hair. If the weave is too tight, sufficient pressure may be built up inside the cap, either to blow it from the head of the wearer, or to blow the conduit ll loose from the conduit [2. I have found that chintz or terrycloth are very satisfactory when used in connection with a standard electric vacuum cleaner. It will be understood that the type and tightness of the weave employed will be determined by the volume of air being dischargedinto the cap.

Whereas from an ornamental standpoint it is preferable to form the conduit H of material similar to the cap 10, such is not necessary as it is not required that any air escape through the porous side walls of the conduit II. The escape of some air, however, through these side walls is not suificiently detrimental to the operation of the cap to be of any importance.

The formation of the cap [9, the filter 44, and of the conduit ll of the same or similar material such as chintz, terrycloth, or the like has the advantage of permitting convenient and easy laundering to the end that the devices of the present invention be maintained in clean and sanitary condition.

A further reason for forming the conduit ll of the same material as the cap is illustrated in Fig. 5. It is quite frequent that while a woman is drying her hair in her home, either the telephone rings, the door-bell rings or visitors drop in. Hair driers as they have heretofore been known and made contain or have no means for covering the head which, when wet, may be rather unsightly.

As shown in Fig. 5 the embodiment of my invention herein illustrated can be used to cover the hair in an attractive manner. The conduit II can be tucked under the resilient band 32 so that the cap need not be removed until it is desired.

Whereas I have illustrated my invention in connection with a standard vacuum cleaner for home use, it is to be understood that the device may be used in commercial establishments such as beauty parlors wherein a supply of warmed air is piped to individual stations from a common blower system. A flexible air supply conduit may be attached to the conduit II. It will readily be seen that such an arrangement is highly advantageous over the heretofore known beauty parlor devices in several respects. First, it allows the client a much more liberal sphere of activity so that the position of the client may be shifted from time to time to avoid excessive fatigue. It is also advantageous in that the cost of production is substantially less than the heretofore known cumbersome mechanical devices.

Whereas I have shown the cap I0 as a tam-oshanter type cap, it is important that my invention is broader than this specific design and resides in the use of a flexible, porous cap adapted to fit loosely over the head of the user and havmg sufficient volume therein to permit a free circulation of air in and through the hair of the user. It is to be understood too that in the appended claim I do not Wish to be understood to limit my invention to the specific structure shown but that the claim should be construed to cover all equivalent devices.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An apparatus for drying hair comprising a tam-o-shanter type cap having a substantially circular crown portion, and a substantially annularly shaped head band defining a head receiving opening and having an outer peripheral portion stitched to the outer peripheral portion of the crown, the diameter of the crown being substantially greater than the diameter of the head receiving opening in the head band and the maximum diameter of the head band being substantially greater than the diameter of the crown, a tube adapted at one end for connection to a source of air under pressure and connected at the opposite end to the head band intermediate the head receiving opening therein and the periphery thereof, and a substantially conical filter of a length less than the length of the tube fastened concentrically within the tube adjacent to the end thereof adapted for connection to the source of air, the cap, the tube, and the filter being formed from air-pervious fabric material.

FLORENCE M. MURPHY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 147,599 Shields Sept. 30, 1947 D. 155,432 Collison Oct. 11, 1949 1,504,149 Rufi'io Aug. 5, 1924 1,543,423 Coune June 23, 1925 1,661,553 Baar Mar. 6, 1928 1,698,533 Brown Jan. 8, 1929 1,907,215 Pfahl May 2, 1933 2,066,847 McShea Jan. 5, 1937 2,074,270 Perkins Mar. 16, 1937 2,266,653 Miller Dec. 16, 1941 2,466,915 Shields Apr. 12, 1949 2,474,165 Roberts June 21, 1949 2,481,407 Fluegel Sept. 6, 1949 

